Director Monica Sorelle’s award winning film takes into the world of Miami’s Little 
Haiti, where Xavier (Atibon Nazaire) makes a 
living as a demolition worker while his wife Esperance (Sheila Anozier) holds down two jobs to sustain their cozy household. Their routine is tested when their son Junior (Chris Renois) returns home after dropping out of college. Xavier and Esperance struggle to relate with Junior, who is no longer interested in speaking Creole 
with them and harbors ambitions of an artistic career path they do not understand. Xavier aspires to buy a more spacious house for his family, but still wakes up every morning, goes to work, and dismantles his neighborhood brick by brick. Yet even as construction vehicles rumble down the block, Little Haiti remains a vibrant community with traditions and rhythms distinctly its own. Monica Sorelle’s tender feature debut is a 
multigenerational drama that deftly explores the relationships between immigrants and their children, the looming threat of gentrification, and the pursuit of the American dream. Director Monica Sorelle stops by to talk about her beautifully calibrated story of a family and a community in transition, nurturing a host of powerful performances, including Atibon Nazaire as Xavier, Sheila Anozier as his wife Esperance and Chris Renois as their only son, on the verge of adulthood. We also talk about the personal and professional impact seeing her debut feature film garner numerous awards from around the world.
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For more go to: musicboxfilms.com/mountains
About the filmmaker – Monica Sorelle is a Haitian-American filmmaker and artist born & based in Miami. Her work explores alienation and displacement, and preserves cultural traditions within Miami & the Caribbean with a focus on the African & Latin diasporas that reside there. Monica’s feature directorial debut, Mountains, had its world premiere at Tribeca Festival, where it was awarded a Special Jury Mention in the U.S. Narrative Feature competition. Mountains later had its international premiere at TIFF, received awards from Miami Film Festival, BlackStar, and Indie Memphis, and screened at festivals around the world, including Glasgow Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, and AFI Fest. Mountains was nominated for two Film Independent Spirit Awards, with Monica receiving the Someone to Watch Award. As a creative producer, Monica’s short films have won top prizes at Berlinale, BlackStar, and Miami Film Festival, been selected at Sundance, New Orleans Film Festival, and New Directors/New Films, and acquired by Criterion Channel and Indiana University Black Film Center & Archive. Her photo and video work has been shown in group exhibitions at various institutions including Oolite Arts, Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, Augusta Savage Gallery, and on PAMM TV, and supported by Pérez Art Museum Miami’s Caribbean Cultural Institute Artist Fellowship, Locust Project’s Wavemaker Grant, and Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs. In 2023, she received an Ellies Creator Award and was selected as a recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship. She is a current studio resident at Bakehouse Art Complex. For more go to: monicasorelle.com
Winner: “Someone to Watch” Independent Spirit Award – Monica Sorelle
Nominated: “Best Breakthrough Performance” – Atibon Nazaire
Official Selection:
Tribeca Film Festival
Special Jury Mention: Best Narrative Feature & Winner: Best Cinematography
BlackStar Film Festival
Winner: Audience Award
Charlotte Film Festival
Best Narrative Feature Jury Award
New Hampshire Film Festival
Grand Jury Award
SOCIAL MEDIA
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“[An] affecting and meditative debut.” – Pete Hammond, Deadline
“A tender directorial debut… Bears the aesthetic mark of Barry Jenkins’ meditative feature [MOONLIGHT].” – Lovia Gyarke, The Hollywood Reporter
“Mountains is the kind of movie that reminds us why we love to sit in the dark and peek at other people’s lives.” – Erick Massoto, Collider
“This is a movie that will lead to serious discussions about gentrification in immigrant heavy neighborhoods while also being a great showcase of what it means to sacrifice for the betterment of your family.” – Lucas Moore, JVS Media & Productions/Team JVS
“[An] immersive look at modern Haitian life from the inside out… one of the finer discoveries out of this year’s [Tribeca] festival.”- Eric Kohn, Indiewire
“Frames the disappearance of Miami’s Little Haiti with a warm, compassionate gaze recalling the masters of social realism––akin to Roberto Rossellini with the touch of Ousmane Sembène’s lighter films.” – John Fink, The Film Stage
“Striking… [a] debut from a filmmaker to watch.” – Christian Gallichio, The Playlist